Michigan Football: 2020 class tops Big Ten after Kalel Mullings commits

Michigan football landed two more commitments Thursday, the second coming from 4-star linebacker Kalel Mullings and now the Wolverines have the top recruiting class in the Big Ten.

It has been a crazy week for the Michigan football program when it comes to recruiting. The Wolverines hosted more than 20 recruits last weekend in Ann Arbor and since then, the commits have been rolling in like crazy.

Not only has Michigan football landed a bunch of recruits (10), it hasn’t been just about quantity, it’s been about quality too. A.J. Henning is a top-80 recruit and he committed Wednesday. Jordan Morant is the top safety according to 247 sports own rankings and Blake Corum ranks 201st overall as well as 17th at his position.

Landing Morant on Sunday was huge because he previously said he wasn’t committing until January. Then, things got even better Wednesday, when Henning, who has long been Michigan football’s top offensive target, committed too.

Henning’s commitment pushed the Wolverines into the top 10 nationally among recruiting classes in 2020 and to No.  2 in the Big Ten conference. As recently as last Saturday, UM was ranked 23rd, however, after Kalel Mullings, a four-star linebacker announced his pledge to the Wolverines Thursday, they surged to 5th overall and No. 1 in the Big Ten via 247 sports.

Getting four top-200 recruits in a matter of days will do that. When it comes to Mullings, a four-star linebacker with elite potential, getting him was huge. Michigan has done well on the East Coast, but landing the top player in the state of Massachusetts was a different story, especially with UM beating Stanford, Boston College and Clemson out for his services.

While Henning offers Michigan football a new kind of talent at wide receiver, the kind that will fit perfectly in Josh Gattis offensive system, Mullings could remind UM fans of an elite player from the past, Devin Bush.

I know that might sound crazy, however, Mullings, a 6-foot-1, 227-pound linebacker, has that kind of upside. Not only does he rank 148th overall according to the 247 sports composite rankings, but he’s also ninth among outside linebackers and for Don Brown, he will likely play inside.

“I feel like the shelf life of a linebacker is longer,” Mullings said. “Shelf life is a big thing, and also life after football. Personally, I feel like my ceiling is higher at linebacker. Coach Brown wants me to play MIKE (middle) linebacker, and I feel like I will fit in well in that defense.”

Mullings isn’t quite the athlete that Bush is, but when you watch his highlights, he looks pretty exciting with the ball in his hands. He is also explosive and with his size, he should do really well sliding inside in that weak-side linebacker role. He’s also fluid enough to be a three-down guy.

Mullings offers a lot of similarities to Bush and with Braiden McGregor, Morant, Andre Seldon, William Mohan and Aaron Lewis, Brown is getting a lot of chess pieces to work with and even though it’s very early, for now, it’s quite satisfying to have the top recruiting class in the Big Ten.